1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a powered material transporting vehicle generally known in the art as a mortar buggy for moving material, primarily mortar, concrete, gravel, dirt and other materials capable of being placed in a hopper or tub for transport to or around a job site and dumped by tilting the hopper or tub, which can be fitted with a stake bed assembly in place of the ordinary plastic or metal hopper of the mortar buggy to allow the powered, movable buggy to act as a stake bed carrying platform. The stake bed can then be configured in a variety of ways, including a flat bed or an extended flat bed, or a closed wall hopper. When assembled in the hopper configuration, a double-acting tailgate is hinged at the top or bottom.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art mortar buggies are well-known light industrial vehicles designed to haul loads from a few hundred pounds to a few tons. The typical power buggy comprises 1) a chassis supported on the ground via a plurality of wheels, 2) a storage bucket or tub supported on the front end of the chassis and liftable to dump loads, and 3) a power source for propelling the vehicle and for operating other powered equipment on the vehicle. The typical power buggy is controlled by an operator who is stationed behind the power buggy and who either walks behind the power buggy or stands on an operator's platform mounted on the rear end of the chassis. Controls for the typical power buggy include a steering control mechanism, a speed control mechanism, an engine kill switch or similar controller, and dump controls which raise and lower the bucket. The vehicle is steered by a generally Y-shaped handlebar having a pair of handgrips. Vehicle propulsion is controlled by a squeeze lever mounted adjacent one of the handgrips.
Power buggies of this general type are commercially available from Miller, the Morrison Division of Amida Industries, Inc., the Whiteman Division of Amida Industries, Inc., Schroeder Industries and Stone Construction Equipment, Inc., the assignee of the instant application. In almost all instances, the prior art buggies are equipped with either metal or plastic hoppers of various sizes which are only useful for carrying soft or granular materials such as mortar, sand, gravel and the like. They are not useful for conveying large or heavy materials either because of the size constraint of the hopper (such as lumber or pipe), or because it would be too difficult to load and unload (such as bricks or blocks).
Recently, there has been a mortar buggy offered by Miller which can be converted to a stake bed configuration; however, it has many limitations. In the stake bed configuration, the side walls are open stake sides which are basically loose pieces of metal connected with posts and dropped into holes welded on the side of the bed. The Miller stake bed is not capable of carrying loose or granular materials nor can its stake sides be converted for an extended flat bed or platform.
What is needed is a mortar buggy which can readily be converted to a stake bed equipped with a more versatile style hopper, one that can be used for hauling bricks, wood, blocks and other commonly found building materials in addition to loose granular materials, such as dry cement and mortar, gravel and dirt.